Facebook has removed a privacy setting which allows users to hide themselves from public searches. For most users, however, the setting was removed long ago.

Privacy Setting

The privacy setting allowed users to prevent their names from appearing in searches as users typed a name into the search box.

Although the news sounds dire, Facebook actually removed the feature for anyone who wasn’t using it long ago. Facebook’s Chief Privacy Office Michael Richter wrote yesterday:

The search setting was removed last year for people who weren’t using it. For the small percentage of people still using the setting, they will see reminders about it being removed in the coming weeks.

Whether you’ve been using the setting or not, the best way to control what people can find about you on Facebook is to choose who can see the individual things you share.

If you are one of the few users who still have the old privacy setting in place, you’ll receive a notification that states,

(Name), we wanted to make sure you know we’re removing the “Who can look up your Timeline by name” setting.

This setting controlled whether people could find your Timeline by searching for your name. We’re removing the setting because it isn’t as useful as it was before, and now there are better ways to manage your privacy using your privacy shortcuts.

It should be noted that you can still block users from seeing your activity, and you can see limit visibility of posts and photos.

If you are concerned about the privacy of your posts on Facebook, your “Privacy Settings” is where you can find a variety of privacy options. Setting all future posts to “Friends” or “Friends except Acquaintences” is probably a good start.

Bottom Line

The vast majority of Facebook users will not be affected by the removal of this old privacy feature.

• Facebook removes a privacy setting you might have been using (Devin Coldewey, NBC News: October 10, 2013)
• Reminder: Finishing the Removal of an Old Search Setting (Michael Richter, Facebook: October 10, 2013)